Spider-Man Showdown: Which Origin Story Was Better?

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By now, we’ve all had enough time to soak in the latest big-screen adaptation of Marvel’s web-slinging superhero, and the second try at depicting Spider-Man’s beginnings in nearly a decade’s time. Yet Marc Webb’s “The Amazing Spider-Man” adopts a different tone than Sam Raimi’s 2002 Spidey opus, which marked the first effort in an eventual trilogy. The main villain, love interest and climactic set pieces have all been updated, but most crucially, Webb casts Peter Parker in a different light this time around — instead of Tobey Maguire’s congenial good guy, we have Andrew Garfield as a brooding, whiny teenager, trying to make sense of his father’s death.

Comic book fans will debate whether or not “The Amazing Spider-Man” is more faithful to the Marvel Comics than “Spider-Man,” but our debate is more simple: which one is the better movie? Check out our critical comparison of the two cinematic beginnings of the superhero, and see which one we thought offered more overall satisfaction (Warning: heavy spoilers ahead).